1 Discussion Question,1 Summary and 1 Case study

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opportunity to communicate the other factors in the workplace that can lead to less-than-acceptable performance.

The ability to educate management requires the HPI practitioner to identify the myriad factors influencing workplace performance. These may include:

Clarity of expectations Level of empowerment Completeness of data, information, or feedback available to performers when they need it and in the form they need it Quality of documentation Quality of job aids for simple, infrequently performed tasks Workplace design Organizational structure Conflicting, or nonexistent, consequences of performance Efficiency of work processes Employee ability

By identifying organizational performance gaps, decision makers can take proactive steps to build a high-performance workplace (HPW), where individuals are supported in all ways to perform to their peak. You can establish yourself and your colleagues as the ones in the organization who have the expertise to bridge these gaps. Try to avoid HPI jargon like, “interventions” and “terminal objectives.” Rather, you should talk to the managers about “solutions” and “what’s most important” (Willmore, 2003). One caution: Many times, management sees most of these types of performance gaps as “their issues” to address. Be prepared for this attitude. Seeing the former training person as someone who can help them with these types of organizational issues may take some getting used to. Be patient, but diligent. Susan Fehl, an HPI practitioner who has over 25 years of experience in the field, says, “There are very few enlightened managers out there that realize that (human) performance improvement is a foundational piece to their business.” Part of our job is to help them not only to accept this role, but to embrace it and value it. Eventually, you’ll find a manager who will welcome your help. And that brings us to Step 4.

Step 4: Obtain an Internal ChampionStep 4: Obtain an Internal Champion

To make a successful transition from a traditional training function to an HPI function, you first need to have a success story. Seek an internal champion—that is, a manager who has shown interest in the results of training offered in his or her organization or a manager who has shown an interest in factors influencing human performance. Choosing a manager who is one to two levels above you on the organization chart has proven to be successful (Fuller and Farrington, 1999). If you go too high in the organization, the project that gets defined may prove to be too challenging and complex for novice HPI practitioners. Too broad a project may require the involvement of a large population of nonbelievers—those who do not understand why trainers should poke around in the business process. For these reasons, “think small” on your first effort.

You want a champion who will support the initial organizational analysis that will result in baseline measurements of performance and will also commit to post-intervention evaluation so you can measure the overall improvement in performance. Your champion should be ready to remove barriers that you encounter during the course of the project. The champion will also be a key partner in communicating the success of the HPI intervention.

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The key to maintaining the support of a champion is to form a partnership with him or her. You form that partnership by asking a lot of questions about their organization. What are the challenges that they face? What kinds of solutions have been tried in the past? What were the results of those solutions? What are the measures of success? How will we know if we’ve achieved our project goals? The HPI practitioner needs to demonstrate his or her true commitment to achieving the organization’s goals, and the champion needs to demonstrate his or her true commitment to the project.

Step 5: Select an HPI ModelStep 5: Select an HPI Model

Chapter 2 featured several models for HPI. It is essential that your training organization select a model that will be utilized by the new HPI function. While it could be argued that using only one model is too restrictive, it is critical at this stage of transformation that the organization gains a thorough understanding of only one HPI model and the procedural tasks accompanying it. Your organization must interface with the client base in a consistent manner. Settling on one model will encourage this. And remember, the model is to guide all HPI practitioners to follow the same process with the organization’s client. It’s not necessary to explain the model to the client. Your interactions with the client should be kept in terms that the client can relate to. “Effective performance